


Holding Your Breath

by NephilimEQ



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Hermione Granger, Complete, F/M, Healthy Relationships, Humor, POV First Person, Wife Appreciation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NephilimEQ/pseuds/NephilimEQ
Summary: Have you ever seen her in heels? It makes a man want to just hold his breath.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape
Comments: 17
Kudos: 164





	Holding Your Breath

** Holding Your Breath **

Have you ever seen her in heels? It makes a man want to just hold his breath. There’s something about it that causes my lungs to tighten and dread to take in another gasp of air for fear of breaking the moment, afraid that the sound will cause her to turn around and notice that I am staring. 

How would she react if she knew? With surprise? Embarrassment? Who knows… 

All I know is that I could stare at her all night. 

Her dress isn’t skin-tight, but it clings to her body just enough to hint at the womanly curves beneath the fabric; classy, yet sinful. And it’s black. I would have been expecting her to wear something red, or even blue, but she surprises me. She turns her neck, and the exquisite arch of it makes my hands ache to caress the soft expanse of skin that is shown. 

Every step she takes only shows off her exquisite legs that seem to go on forever in those four-inch heels that she’s wearing. I know that I am not the only man who is staring at her. But she is walking towards _me_ , and I can feel the grin spread across my lips. I can see every man’s eyes in the room widen in absolute shock at the fact that she is walking to _me_. A surge of masculine pride rises up within me and I have to keep myself from laughing maniacally.

As she settles herself down across my lap, crossing one elegant leg over the other, purposely showing off a large expanse of thigh, she flashes me a sweet smile. She places a soft kiss on my lips, and I grin yet again. 

Yes…my wife truly is a tease, but I love her for it.

“Down, Severus,” she murmurs against my lips, and I give her a look, at which she scoffs and replies, “Oh, please, you really think that look is going to work on me?” She then rolls her eyes and leans into my shoulder and mutters into my ear, “That look stopped working on me several months after I became your apprentice, dear.”

I shrug and say right back to her, “Well, it was worth a shot.”

I feel her chuckle more than hear it, her body lightly shaking in my grasp, and then she pulls herself away and holds onto my hand for as long as she can, and then gently turns away and heads back to the floor, and I can tell that she is going to talk to Ginny Potter nee Weasley, as I see the familiar shock of red hair and gold silk. I’m fairly certain that she wore that dress to our wedding, but I can’t tell from where I am sitting, so I pay it no mind.

Instead, I stand and head towards the refreshment table, silently pleased that all forms of magic have been banned at this function, knowing the chaos that would ensue with everyone trying to retrieve their food and drinks wandlessly, all of them trying to avoid the small-talk that inevitably comes around the buffet with these events.

Hermione _insisted_ that we come, and even though I loathe these functions with every breath of my being, I will not deny that I take great pleasure in showing off my new wife.

Speaking of which, I see her from the corner of my eye, gesturing widely, her voice raising over something that is causing her to become quite passionate, which could be one of several things. I turn to get a better view and am not disappointed when I see one of the Ministry lackeys standing next to her and the newly minted bride of Potter, looking ready to murder the man.

I sip at my punch and try to listen in as discreetly as possible, and am not disappointed when I suddenly hear her exclaim, “Of all the malicious, insidious, insinuating…I can’t _believe_ you could say something like that!”

Oh, this is _definitely_ going to be interesting.

I adjust my stance and lean back against the wall, closest to the door that leads out to the apparition point. I have a feeling that we might be making a hasty and early exit.

Not that that bothers me. In fact, I am finding myself incredibly pleased with the idea that we will be able to leave and I can squarely put the blame on her shoulders. The few Ministry events that we have left early in the past have been because of me, I am not ashamed to admit, and it is rather nice to see the tables turned for once.

My wife has a formidable temper, though it’s usually kept under careful control and highly unpleasant to be on the receiving side of…but when it’s not directed at me, it is a _sight_ to see.

Her voice rises even more, and the conversations that have been littering the room suddenly all seem to die down at once as she berates the man in front of her.

“The fact that you have the gall to call merpeople _creatures_ , just proves to me that you are the most idiotic, imbecilic dunderhead that I have ever met!” she shrieks, and I can’t help but smirk at hearing the word that I have used for years fall effortlessly off her tongue. “Considering that they have comprehensive languages, ten of them, of which I am fluent in four, actually, and a culture dating back longer than wizardkind has been around, and you seem to barely have a grasp on your one language, I find it a wonder that you even managed to learn to walk on your own two feet, let alone have a job at the Public Relations Office of Magical Creatures and Beasts!”

Oh, she’s just getting started. I take another sip of my punch and raise an eyebrow as she continues to berate the man in front of the whole crowd. I am fairly certain that she is completely unaware of the fact that she has drawn everyone’s attention, and that makes it even more glorious.

She takes a deep breath and then hisses out, “If you breathe one more word of your horrible plan to put magical trackers in _sentient beings_ , then I assure you that you will find yourself out of job faster than you can say quidditch!”

And now it seems she is channeling Minerva. I approve.

The man stupidly stutters out, “But, but, but--it’s just for--it’s-it’s…just for tracking the population!”

I watch as Hermione squares her shoulders and then levels her eyes at the man, and I know that she is about to say one more scathing thing that will break down his will, and I am holding my breath for an entirely different reason than before.

“Come hell or high water, Higgins, I will get you removed, and you will never bet let _near_ another position of power.”

She is practically radiating magic, and even her hair is trying to escape, as it is frizzing at the ends from where she had carefully straightened it earlier that evening. Unexpectedly, I am taken off guard by someone at my elbow, and I immediately recognize it as one of my previous students, Neville Longbottom, who is also holding a glass of punch and looking at Hermione with wide eyes.

He then says, “Well, Hermione wasn’t wrong,” and takes a sip of his drink.

I try to hide my emotion but can’t help but say as I suppress a smug smirk, “She rarely is.”

Not everyone knows that we are married, and I know that Longbottom is one of them who is still quite unaware of the fact that Miss Granger is no longer Miss Granger, but Mrs. Snape. Our ceremony was only a few days ago, private and discreet, as she is still technically my apprentice, and she has only been telling people that she trusts. She hasn’t gotten to Longbottom, yet.

He gives her another look and then asks, “I wonder who she came here with. You wouldn’t happen to know, would you, Professor?”

I withhold my eyeroll, as Hermione says that it’s unbecoming, and instead manage a modicum of civility and answer, “Actually, Mr. Longbottom, I do know who she came with. And, please, refrain from calling me professor. I am no longer your teacher. Snape is fine.”

I put my drink down and head towards the crowd and then Longbottom calls after me, “Wait, you didn’t tell me who she came with!”

I don’t answer him, and instead smirk widely as I approach her from behind and slide my arm around her waist, tilting my head just enough to brush my lips against her temple and say only loud enough that she can hear, “Care to leave early, my love?”

Hermione raises her eyes to mine and smiles, and then ducks her head slightly, sounding embarrassed as she says, “I guess I did make a bit of a scene, didn’t I?”

“A bit of scene? Is that what you call it?” quips Ginny from where she had been by Hermione’s side for the entire altercation and I can’t help but nod approvingly at her apt observation, and Hermione lets out an inelegant snort and quickly corrects herself, gesturing widely with her free hand, “Alright, alright! I overreacted entirely! There. Happy?”

“Only if you are,” I murmur and feel a faint surge of warmth in my chest as she smiles up at me beatifically. I love that look on her face.

And I suggest one more time, “Leave early?”

She shrugs and then says, “Might as well. I’m bored out of my mind and my shoes are _killing_ me since I can’t use cushioning charms at this damn function! I mean, I _understand_ why they banned magical charms for these kinds of events,” she adds, using my shoulder to balance as she reaches down and pulls off her shoes, “But it makes my evening slightly less comfortable. God, I need to invest in some good flats if the Ministry is going to keep doing functions like this…”

The sheer casual, yet intimate touch of her leaning against me for such a simple thing hits me somewhere in my chest, and I find that I am once again holding my breath.

She then looks back up at me, several inches shorter than before, and says, “Let’s go, Severus.”

I am more than willing to oblige.

I hold out my hand and she places her shoes in it, and with my other hand I offer her my arm, and she gladly takes it and we head for the doors, and I hear, just as we’re leaving, Longbottom say to Ginny, “Wait…the two of them came _together?_ When…when did this happen?” and feel faint boost to my ego when the girl says, “Oh, Neville, didn’t you see the matching rings? And the way they act with each other? It’s obvious that they’re married,” and then the last thing I hear is the young man choking on his drink.

As soon as we are back at the apparition point, I tug Hermione close to me and ask, “Do you regret marrying me, yet?”

She throws her own smirk up at me and then reaches up and wraps her arms around my neck and presses a soft kiss to my lips.

“Severus Snape, I will never regret marrying you. I love you, you daft idiot…”

And when she says those words, I find myself holding my breath once more. Every time she says them to me, I hold my breath. I slowly let it out.

“And I love you, you infuriating swot.”

She throws her head back and laughs, snorting yet again, and I grasp her tightly and then we are at the base of the walk at our new home on the eastern Scotland coast. She then starts running up towards the house, holding the bottom of her dress off the ground as she runs, and yells back at me, teasingly, “If you can catch me, you can have me, Severus!”

I am no longer holding my breath.


End file.
